This month, Questa del Rio News is celebrating its sixth year in publication, woo hoo! Our first issue was February 2018, and we are just getting started. Thank you, readers, we couldn’t have done it without you. And deep gratitude to all the donors and funding organizations who have supported us in so many ways throughout the years. Every issue of Questa del Rio News is a historic record for generations to come. This month’s news is tomorrow’s history!
Last year, the LOR Foundation granted Questa del Rio News funding to archive all back issues of the newspaper for posterity. Thank you, Maria Gonzalez, LOR’s community officer, for working with us on the project. Creating an archive of each print edition of the paper has been a long time in the making.
Newspapers are printed on the cheapest and lowest quality paper possible; newsprint is highly acidic and does not hold up to time or to the elements. Our readers may have noticed how quickly the newspaper becomes brittle and yellow. Even when left in a sunny place for a few days, a newspaper will show signs of aging. To protect our paper as a historic record, each issue must be stored in museum quality, acid-free archival materials, which are not cheap. With help from the LOR Foundation, we purchased materials to archive the last six years of the paper and throughout 2024. We are already seeking funding to protect our upcoming issues, moving forward. With the materials in place, we can simply place the papers every month in archival storage before they start to decay.
Each issue of the paper is stored in a clear polyester archival sleeve; then a whole year of sleeved newspapers is placed in its own box. Both sleeves and boxes are pH-balanced, acid-free, and will withstand the test of time.
Over the years there have been conversations about creating a historic museum in Questa. Such a place would house copies of archived copies of Questa Del Rio News. Let’s keep that conversation going!
There have been several newspapers published in Questa and Red River over the years, some dating as far back as the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, few copies of these historic newspapers have survived. If our readers have copies of these old papers, please tell us about them, even if you can just tell us the names of the papers. More recently, local community-owned newspapers have come and gone in Red River, Angel Fire, and Eagle Nest.
Currently, you can find sets of Questa del Rio News archives at the Questa Visitor Center, Rael’s Story & Coffee Shop, and the Questa Public Library. They may be viewed at the Questa Library during regular hours but may not leave the library. If you are interested in the archive project, have questions, or would like more information, please contact loumccall@gmail.com.
Do you have copies of old Questa Del Rio News lying around? We are missing critical back issues to complete our archival sets.
March 2019,
May 2019,
October 2019,
January 2020,
May 2020,
November 2020
June 2021,
October 2022,
January 2023
If you have extra copies of these newspapers, please leave them with Cynthia Rael-Vigil at Rael’s Store during their regular business hours. Thank you for supporting local news!
